Schools in several states are installing laundry rooms for students to wash their clothes. Many students, according to school officials, will stay home if they do not have clean clothes so the laundry rooms are seen as a way to curb absences.

Cleaning and disinfecting shared office items like copy machine buttons, appliance handles and conference room tables can keep the flu from spreading, said Ed Richards, the office manager of a Tucson, Ariz., commercial cleaning company. Employees should also keep their personal space clean and do more than just rinse coffee mugs and water glasses.

"Chemophobia" -- the irrational fear of chemicals -- is rampant in popular culture nowadays, writes Dan Gardner, a principal at Tactix, an Ottawa consultancy. To the chemophobe, he writes, "the only safe exposure is zero. But if that were true, we'd all be dead."

Pinterest is full of cute storage ideas for laundry packets, but pods need to be stored safely away from children and family members with memory problems, according to the American Cleaning Institute. Store the packets in their original packaging in a place out of the reach of children.

Ecolab's Smart Water Navigator is a 13-question assessment that will help companies evaluate water-related concerns. Company managers can assess their facilities to evaluate performance and water stress levels.

A classic plastic recycling symbol is the triple-arrow triangle, but symbols for different types of plastics are lesser-known. Some of the plastics can be put in curbside recycling bins, while others have traditionally not been recycled.

The Environmental Protection Agency has published a list of 40 substances with either high-priority or low-priority designation for review under the Toxic Substances Control Act. It is "important to note that neither this announcement nor any final high-priority designation represents a finding of risk by EPA," the American Chemistry Council says of the list featuring formaldehyde, phthalates and other substances.

Chemical recycling and other "advanced plastic recycling and recovery technologies" could generate $10 billion for the US economy by changing how the nation uses and reuses plastics, says the American Chemistry Council. "These technologies further demonstrate the untapped value of used plastics and have the potential to dramatically accelerate our transition to a circular economy," ACC executive Steve Russell says.

Hawaii should explore plastic recycling instead of advancing a bill that would ban bottles, straws and other plastics from restaurant and government use by 2022, says the American Chemistry Council. "We encourage the Legislature to look at alternative approaches that would increase recycling and recovery in communities across the islands and educate individuals on the responsible use of plastics, such as adopting straw 'upon request' guidelines," it says.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers will accept public comments on their plan to change the Waters of the US rule until April 15, refusing requests to extend the deadline beyond that point. "The agencies will consider all comments submitted by the close of the public comment period before finalizing the rulemaking," the EPA wrote in an email.